Nightlife

Movin’ on up

A first look at the Penthouse Gentlemen’s Club

Michael Meyer

Thu, Oct 18, 2007 (2:21 a.m.)

Taking Sin out of Sin City seems counterintuitive at first, but when your gentlemen’s club is rebranding itself as Penthouse, it’s a move that’s precisely in tune with the direction Las Vegas’ nightlife is going. The world continues to pour into Las Vegas, demanding more bang for its endless bucks, and the entertainment industry has responded, beginning to cater to an individual’s needs rather than force-feeding a product down his throat.

The club, now Sin, soon to become the new Penthouse Gentlemen’s Club, is in the midst of a major overhaul, adding private cabanas, a glass pony wall separating another lounge with new dance platforms, a steak house, two new bars and an extended X-shaped stage that will be used as a catwalk for runway shows featuring

lingerie and other sexy merchandise from the Penthouse boutique.

The renovations are the most recent in a series of steps that the owners have taken to break the mold of the Vegas strip club and create an upbeat and intimate environment where you’re not treated differently depending on how much time or money you want to spend. As a testament to this more personal approach, Penthouse will actually seat fewer guests than Sin currently allows for, providing concentrated and focused adult entertainment.

“From the 21-year-old college student with some buddies spending $100 on drinks and dances, to someone extremely wealthy who wants to go all out, we want all of our guests to choose the experience and get exactly what they want, rather than being pushed into paying for something they’re not enjoying,” says GM Rick Grand.

Grand has been adding his personal touches to the club’s renaissance, including hiring staff from outside of the Vegas strip-club circles, more than doubling the number of entertainers on the weekends and establishing Sin as the “most cigar-friendly club in the country.”

As a complimentary service, the bar staff is trained in a technique Grand claims he invented, in which the cigar is clipped, rolled in heated, 150-year-old Grand Marnier, flambéed in a blanket of blue flames until the alcohol burns away, dipped once more into the cognac and lit again for you to smoke and enjoy the infused flavors. He got the idea after hearing stories of Native Americans dipping their cigars in salt and mineral water for taste, and he and a friend decided to give it a try. The results were unanimous: “It was horrible,” Grand recalls.

Fortunately, later experiments with cognac yielded a crowd-pleasing fire show and smoker-satisfying cigars, another example of a personal touch that contributes to Penthouse’s vision of setting itself apart.

Sin has also been innovative in boosting the quality of entertainment during the daylight hours. Historically, the day shift at a strip club can be a little less than exotic, but Sin sees the tainted slot as an opportunity to cater to gentlemen coming off of the golf course or looking for a dark, cool place to spend a couple of free daytime hours. The 10 a.m.-6 p.m. happy hour, with $3 domestic beers and two-for-one mixed drinks, doesn’t hurt, either.

Instead of vacant, lethargic dancers who forgot to go home and sleep the night before, Penthouse will hire high-quality performers—and particularly hot young moms who need to be home in the evenings—to work their day shift (otherwise known as the MILF shift). Penthouse will also carry on Sin’s Monday Night Football on the largest projection screen in Vegas, starting at 5 p.m. with specials like $20 buckets of Budweiser Select and discounted dances.

The renovations are happening in stages so the club won’t have to close during its metamorphosis. Everything is scheduled to be finished for a grand opening at the end of the year, with a locals’ party the following week featuring an open bar, free food and dances for locals. American men have had a pleasurable relationship with the Penthouse brand for decades, and the new club promises to bring everything we love about Penthouse from fantasy to reality.